New planted tank help

536 Views 6 Replies 2 Participants Last post by carefreesparrow, May 27, 2014

carefreesparrow

Discussion Starter · May 25, 2014 (Edited)

Hello, im cuurently setting up a 33 gal planted tank with 2 small java ferns, dwarf hairgrass, moneywort, 2 unidentified (was sold as wisteria but isnt} and corkscrew val. The java fern and hairgrass seem to be doin well, theyve been in for about a week and are showing signs of growth, the others not so much...Ive been adding 3.3 ml of api co2 booster once a day, and 3.3 ml of seacham flourish 2x a week. Ive also a dead ghost shrimp in tank and had been adding some flakes to keep ammonia around .25 ppm. The test strips i have are giving some weird results however for everything else Nitrate 0, nitrite 2ppm, gh 200 kh 200, ph 8 for light its a t5 bulb 25 watt. Ive been leaving it on for about 10 hrs a day. My val is turning brown and moneywort is drooping and unidentified is also drooping. all stemmed plants in other words._. Should i try tabs? How deep should i have planted these? Ive tried planting them as shallow as possible but theres a decnt current from my hob filters..Sorry also i have some java moss and have it in place with some larger pebbles pinching down the corners, is that alright? Thanks i realize my ph is high, how can i lower it to around 7.6? Would driftwood work?

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lilnaugrim

· #2 · May 26, 2014

Where did you get the plants from? It sounds like they might have been grown emersed and then they melt when they are introduced to a submerged environment but eventually come back when they are acclimated to it, at least most of the time, sometimes they do die.

I don't see how those results are weird, you're on track for cycling if that's what your asking about. It's Nitrite and THEN Nitrate, possibly that was confusing you?

pH is actually really not that high, driftwood MAY lower it but it's not guaranteed to do so. In actuality it's best to leave your pH the way it is rather than mess with it and cause other issues for the fish eventually.

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carefreesparrow

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 26, 2014

Thanks for the reply, im not sure if the plants were grown emersed or not, got them from petsmart. Lol i guess i only found it weird to get nitrite readings soo soon in the cycle, tanks only been running for like 2 weeks. Guess the precultured gravel ive got is doing the trick. Ill just keep pruning off the dead spots as needed and hope for the best. Picked up a 31w daylight t5 but turns out its the wrong size.

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lilnaugrim

· #4 · May 27, 2014

They were in the tubes/bags or were they from a tank?

Oh, well if you're running with seeded material (gravel in your case) then yeah it's going to cycle a lot faster lol. The plants will eventually help out too once they start growing, they'll soak up the ammonia before the bacteria can get it. So if you get enough plants growing and plant the tank at least 1/3 or more then you will actually be doing something call the Silent Cycle. You can google that for more info.

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carefreesparrow

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 27, 2014

They were in a tank, but they had only been there for a day er so according to the girl that helped me out

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lilnaugrim

· #6 · May 27, 2014

Okay! More than likely they were raised emersed (out of water) so it's really just going to take some time for them to get used to your water. As I said, some may die out and others will have babies grow from the dead stem.

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carefreesparrow

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 27, 2014

Right, thanks. Ill just keep pruning away the brown and hopefully they grow anew from the runners.

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